---
type: howto
stage: Govern
group: Authentication and Authorization
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Enforce two-factor authentication **(FREE ALL)**

[Two-factor authentication (2FA)](../user/profile/account/two_factor_authentication.md)
is an authentication method that requires the user to provide two different factors
to prove their identity:

- Username and password.
- A second authentication method, such as a code generated by an application.

2FA makes it harder for an unauthorized person to access an account because
they would need both factors.

NOTE:
If you are [using and enforcing SSO](../user/group/saml_sso/index.md#sso-enforcement), you might already be enforcing 2FA on the identity provider (IDP) side. Enforcing 2FA on GitLab as well might be unnecessary.

## Enforce 2FA for all users **(FREE SELF)**

Administrators can enforce 2FA for all users in two different ways:

- Enforce on next sign in.
- Suggest on next sign in, but allow a grace period before enforcing.

  After the configured grace period has elapsed, users can sign in but
  cannot leave the 2FA configuration area at `/-/profile/two_factor_auth`.

You can use the UI or the API to enforce 2FA for all users.

### Use the UI

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to**.
1. Select **Admin Area**.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand the **Sign-in restrictions** section:
   - Select **Enforce two-factor authentication** to enable this feature.
   - In **Two-factor grace period**, enter a number of hours. If you want to
     enforce 2FA on next sign-in attempt, enter `0`.

### Use the API

Use the [application settings API](../api/settings.md) to modify the following settings:

- `require_two_factor_authentication`.
- `two_factor_grace_period`.

For more information, see the [list of settings that can be accessed through API calls](../api/settings.md#list-of-settings-that-can-be-accessed-via-api-calls).

## Enforce 2FA for all users in a group **(FREE ALL)**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/24965) in GitLab 12.0, 2FA settings for a group are also applied to subgroups.

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Maintainer or Owner role for the group.

To enforce 2FA only for certain groups:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand **Permissions and group features**.
1. Select **All users in this group must set up two-factor authentication**.
1. Optional. In **Delay 2FA enforcement (hours)**, enter the number of hours you
   want the grace period to last for.
   If there are multiple different grace periods in a top level group and its subgroups
   and projects, the shortest grace period is used.
1. Select **Save changes**.

Access tokens are not required to provide a second factor for authentication because
they are API-based. Tokens generated before 2FA is enforced remain valid.

### 2FA in subgroups

You can enable and enforce 2FA for individual subgroups in the same way as a top
level group.

You can prevent subgroups from setting up their own 2FA requirements:

1. Go to the top level group's **Settings > General**.
1. Expand the **Permissions and group features** section.
1. Clear the **Allow subgroups to set up their own two-factor authentication rule** checkbox.

This action causes all subgroups with 2FA requirements to stop requiring 2FA from
their members.

### 2FA in projects

If a project belonging to a group that enables or enforces 2FA is [shared](../user/project/members/share_project_with_groups.md)
with a group that does not enable or enforce 2FA, members of the non-2FA group can access that project
without using 2FA. For example:

- Group *A* has 2FA enabled and enforced. Group *B* does not have 2FA enabled.
- If a project, *P*, that belongs to group *A* is shared with group *B*, members
  of group *B* can access project *P* without 2FA.

To ensure this does not occur, [prevent sharing of projects](../user/group/access_and_permissions.md#prevent-a-project-from-being-shared-with-groups)
for the 2FA group.

If you add members to a project in a group or subgroup that has 2FA
enabled, 2FA is **not** required for those individually added members.

## Disable 2FA **(FREE SELF)**

You can disable 2FA for a single user or all users.

This is a permanent and irreversible action. Users must reactivate 2FA to use it again.

WARNING:
Disabling 2FA for users does not disable the [enforce 2FA for all users](#enforce-2fa-for-all-users)
or [enforce 2FA for all users in a group](#enforce-2fa-for-all-users-in-a-group)
settings. You must also disable any enforced 2FA settings so users aren't asked to set up 2FA again
when they next sign in to GitLab.

### For a single user

#### Administrators

In GitLab 13.5 and later, use the [Rails console](../administration/operations/rails_console.md)
to disable 2FA for a single administrator:

```ruby
admin = User.find_by_username('<USERNAME>')
user_to_disable = User.find_by_username('<USERNAME>')

TwoFactor::DestroyService.new(admin, user: user_to_disable).execute
```

The administrator is notified that 2FA has been disabled.

#### Non-administrators

In GitLab 15.2 and later, you can use either the Rails console or the
[API endpoint](../api/users.md#disable-two-factor-authentication) to disable 2FA
for a non-administrator.

You can disable 2FA for your own account.

You cannot use the API endpoint to disable 2FA for administrators.

### For all users

To disable 2FA for all users even when forced 2FA is disabled, use the following Rake task.

- For installations that use the Linux package:

  ```shell
  sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:two_factor:disable_for_all_users
  ```

- For self-compiled installations:

  ```shell
  sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:two_factor:disable_for_all_users RAILS_ENV=production
  ```

## 2FA for Git over SSH operations **(PREMIUM ALL)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/270554) in GitLab 13.7.
> - [Moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/299088) from GitLab Free to GitLab Premium in 13.9.
> - It's deployed behind a feature flag, disabled by default.
> - Push notification support [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-shell/-/issues/506) in GitLab 15.3.

FLAG:
On self-managed GitLab, by default this feature is not available. To make it available, an administrator can [enable the feature flag](../administration/feature_flags.md) named `two_factor_for_cli`. On GitLab.com, this feature is not available. The feature is not ready for production use. This feature flag also affects [session duration for Git Operations when 2FA is enabled](../administration/settings/account_and_limit_settings.md#customize-session-duration-for-git-operations-when-2fa-is-enabled).

You can enforce 2FA for [Git over SSH operations](../development/gitlab_shell/features.md#git-operations). However, you should use
[ED25519_SK](../user/ssh.md#ed25519_sk-ssh-keys) or [ECDSA_SK](../user/ssh.md#ecdsa_sk-ssh-keys) SSH keys instead. 2FA is enforced for Git operations only, and internal commands such as [`personal_access_token`](../development/gitlab_shell/features.md#personal-access-token) are excluded.

To perform one-time password (OTP) verification, run:

```shell
ssh git@<hostname> 2fa_verify
```

Then authenticate by either:

- Entering the correct OTP.
- In GitLab 15.3 and later, responding to a device push notification if
  [FortiAuthenticator is enabled](../user/profile/account/two_factor_authentication.md#enable-one-time-password-using-fortiauthenticator).

After successful authentication, you can perform [Git over SSH operations](../development/gitlab_shell/features.md#git-operations) for 15 minutes (default) with the associated
SSH key.

### Security limitation

2FA does not protect users with compromised *private* SSH keys.

Once an OTP is verified, anyone can run Git over SSH with that private SSH key for
the configured [session duration](../administration/settings/account_and_limit_settings.md#customize-session-duration-for-git-operations-when-2fa-is-enabled).

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